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Nica's supply trucks are regularly blocking Bishop Street. They either park across a lane of traffic (see picture - this truck is parked!) or they park so close to the corner that it is nearly impossible to pull out onto Orange st. without endangering yourself.

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just as importantly, they continuously block the bike lane despite numerous complaints in person. it makes cyclists invisible to cars pulling out of the parking lot.
also, in the spring, when the in-road pedestrian sign is in the crosswalk, it creates a spot where drivers often really aggressively pass cyclists where there is not enough room for both.
the management responded in an email that they have tried to address it with delivery people, but that they cannot control their actions, and it is more of an enforcement issue for the NHPD (as though they don't have more important things to do other than monitor nicas parking situation.)
after i receive that email response, i began boycotting nicas a few months ago.

Alex(Guest)

Yeah, I've noticed this for a long time. It's a high traffic area (cars, pedestrians and bikes). When the delivery trucks are "parked" it becomes really dangerous - both pulling out of Nica's parking lot and getting across Bishop from Orange. That picture is outrageous. Surely there's a way to address this situation. At the very least, crossing Orange from Bishop becomes impossible without a traffic light. Or take away parking along Orange in front of Nica's (loading and unloading only) or force the back end of Nica's parking lot to become unloading area for trucks. Or all of the above. Somebody should have the authority to force Nica's to address the situation - saying that "they can't do anything - it's the delivery people's fault" is not an answer.

Roland Lemar(Guest)

Mike or Jim at Transportation Traffic and Parking- Any chance that we can get some folks out here again to do some targeted enforcement? We all love Nica's, but it seems pretty clear that they are unable to regulate their delivery trucks and we need a better solution. I know Nica's wants to convert the spaces in front of their store into a "Commercial Loading Zone" - not sure if that would solve the problem though, but something MUST be done. It would not surprise anyone in this community if a serious accident occured at this intersection.

Anonymous(Guest)

i live near the corner and the screech of a car braking for another car, or a bike is a regular occurrence.
drivers yelling at each other out their windows, or a crash, flashing lights, and the wait for tow trucks also isn't uncommon.
more and more often, the trucks are parking on bishop street where residential parking is already at a minimum.
THEN what drives me crazy is their noise pollution. during decent weather when anybody might want open windows, the sound of idling trucks for what can be hours at a time is tedious. i didn't move into a loading zone.
i'm really starting to resent a store that i once loved.

The Department has stepped up enforcement in the area, however, this is an intermittent problem that we have in Downtown as well. If you see a loading vehicle obstructing traffic or the bike lane, you may also call the office at (203) 946-8075 for dispatch.

TTP: Can you install temporary barrels / temporary curb extensions along the no parking zone near the Nica's exit? This would be extremely inexpensive and prevent vehicles from parking here.

Enforcement is great but if the activity can and does continue to occur here, you are still risking people's lives. I saw a truck parked here again just a few days ago. The city's doesn't have the resources to permanently park a cop on this (or any other) corner.

Let me know if you need help researching what products to use - other cities widely use them.

Anonymous(Guest)

the curbs are likely too tight for the larger vehicles that park there, and reversing into the street would be a nightmare.

crazy idea, not just to solve this problem, but address the larger picture of traffic issues on orange: what if orange street was a one way all the way from willow street into downtown?
this would leave enough room for a full lane to be devoted to a two way bike lane, and commercial areas could take over the few on street parking spots in front of their businesses for large trucks. the trucks could be instructed to exit on willow and come up orange.

I agree with Juli's suggestion that cycling infrastructure could use a lot of work on Orange Street.

Turning the street into a "neighborhood greenway," instead of a street that many residents are still afraid to ride on, is a great idea to explore.

Cutting typical travel speeds on Orange Street to 15-20 miles per hour (from the current 30+) would dramatically increase the comfort levels of pedestrians and cyclists, and also greatly reduce the chances of another severe crash caused by some of the volume and visibility issues at the intersections. We all know that the intersections of Orange with Canner, Lawrence and other streets are plagued with crash problems.

I'm not sure exactly how a one way street for vehicle traffic, two way for cyclists, would address the safety issues but it is a great idea worth looking into. Often speeds are higher on one ways, but they wouldn't necessarily have to be here, if the city used proper traffic engineering. There are a lot of beautiful one-way neighborhood "slow streets" in other cities that have appropriate speeds and allow contraflow bicycle traffic. The other typical downsides of a one way street, e.g., that it could increase traffic on side streets as people circle, would have to be studied.

I feel that improving Orange Street would be easy to accomplish, for example, using inexpensive temporary measures for the time being (for things like curb extensions and medians) until funding allowed permanent construction. This all applies to other important collector-type streets in New Haven as well, like Goffe, Willow, Prospect, Shelton and Davenport :-)

juli(Guest)

AC(Guest)

This is an active intersection in the morning for Yale students walking to the bus stop, and these trucks make it very dangerous.

It happens at the same time each and every morning, and it's the same trucks each and every time. This is not something that would be difficult to fix. A few tickets to the offenders would certainly be enough to make them stop.

Must someone be hit by a car for this to be addressed? The department of transportation has suggested that we call in, so what is the point of this website?

I see this practically everyday on my way to and on my way home from work. There's often a taxi cab parked there now too. If I was parked there, I'd get a ticket. I wonder why no one else gets ticketed.

Attached is a photo of a typical intersection design in London; these types designs promote walkability and greatly improve visibility. Comprehensive research over 20 years has proven that fatalities and injuries have been directly, and dramatically, reduced through designs like these.